TEAM

 Here is some common sense I have derived from coaching youth football (American).  Stay with me but expect no great revelation, here.

The most important first step in coaching is to create "team".  Before there is running and passing and blocking and tackling, there must be "team".  Get everyone working together and suffering together; learning a new vocabulary, running sprints, doing exercises and reaction drills, sharing water, and sharing misery. 

You see, some parts of the game "hurt".  Tackling requires you to overcome the fear of getting "hurt".  Blocking requires you to overcome the fear of getting "hurt".  Running with the ball requires you to overcome the fear of getting "hurt".  Catching the ball puts you in position to get "hurt". It really does hurt, sometimes.  

Our bodies are programmed to avoid hurt.  Those who intentionally hurt themselves for their own benefit  have a severe mental problem.  The trick for a football coach is to convince his players that the reward can be better than the hurt.  That's not always easy.  For some kids, it's impossible.  

How does he convince them?  Team!  Do it for the team.  It works.  People will do for and with others what they would normally never do themselves.  Being part of a team or any other group gives you strength.  

The psychology is the same for the military, for work crews and . . . for political mobs.  People can be convinced to do what they would normally never do.  

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